Railway-track device.



E. LAAS & H. H. SPONENBURG. RAILWAY TRACK DEVICE. urmoumn FILED APB-14, 1913.

1 077 353 Patented Nov. 4, 1913. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WITNESSES: {W 2 [N VEN TOR #777 W flfl/lntk M.

A TTORNE Y E. LAAS & H. H. SPONENBURG. RAILWAY TRACK DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 14, 1913.

1,077,353, Patented Nov. 4, 1913.

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WITNESSES: 1N ENTOR W W ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT @FFlCE.

EDWARD LAAS, OF SI-IA'WNEE, OKLAHOMA AND I-IIRAll I H. SPONENBURG, 0F GURNEE,

ILLINOIS, ASSIGNGRS T0 LAAS & SPONENIBURG C0,, A CORPORATIGN OF ILLINOIS.

RAILWAY-TRACK DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 4, 1913.

Application filed April 14, 1913. Serial No. 760,975.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, EDW'ARD LAAS and Humor H. SPOKEN BURG, citizens of the United States, residing at Shawnee, in the county of Pottawatomie and State of Oklahoma, and Gurnee, in the county of Lake and State of Illinois, respectively, have invented cer-' tain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Track Devices, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to a railway track device which serves the purpose bot-h of a tie plate and a rail brace, and the invention has for its principal object to provide a novel device of this sort which will permit the rail to be raised or shimmed up without removing the device from the tie or without disturbing the spikes or other attaching means employed for securing it in place on the tie, and which, when the rail is shimmed up. will afford the support necessary for holding the shims in position and for holding the rail from lateral dis placement or spreading due to the thrust of the car wheels.

It is wel known that the rails of a rail road which is not stone or cinder ballasted have to be raised or shimmed up from the ties periodically at certain places along the road bed because of the heaving and disturbance of the ballast and subsoil due to the frost. As it is not feasible to raise the cross ties on which the rails are supported, the usual method followed when the rails of a track have to be leveled up is to place wooden shimsbetween the rails and the ties.

This shimming up of railroad rails is the cause of frequent accidents as it has not'been possible to give the rail as secure a position on the shims as ithad upon the ties. For example, the ordinary rail tie plates and braces cannot be used when a rail is shimmed up. The shims do not afford a firm enough support to make a rail brace of any value and if a tie plate is used, of any of the types commonly employed, the ribs or wedges which. by embedding themselves in the tie keep the tie plate in position, will split the relatively thin, light shims. Moreover, it is essential that a tie plate be firmly spiked to the tie. If the tie be raised upon shims it cannot be securely attached in position. Our invention seeks to remedy this difiiculty by providing a tie plate which is furnished with means for preventing the lateral disrail.

placement or spread of the rail, which does not have to be removed when the tie is shimmed up and which is furnished with means for preventing the lateral displacement of the rail in its shimmed up position as well as in its normal position. The device has, therefore, the important advantage of minimizing the danger of railroad accidents due to the shimming up of rails from their seats on the cross ties, and also the sub sidiary but important advantage of facilitating the work of the track crew. Moreover, as the tie plate of our invention does not have to be periodically removed and replaced, the life of the tie is prolonged and the possibility of accident due to the looseness of the tie plate on the tie is eliminated.

It is well known that tie plates have a tendency to bend up along the edge of the This bending of plates occurs much more frequently along the outside edge of the rail base than at the inside edge, for the reason that the thrust of the wheels is outwardly. To overcome the tendency to bend along the outside edge of the rail base without waste of material, which commercially is a very important consideration in devices of this sort, the tie plate of our invention has a tapered configuration, being relatively wide at the place where the outside edge of the rail base bears against it, and tapering in width inwardly.

The invention is illustrated, in certain preferred embodiments, in the accompanying drawings, where1n Figure 1 is a side elevation of one form of our invention, the rail being shown in section; 2, a plan view of the device shown in Fig. 1'; Fig. 3, a view similar to Fig. 1 of a. modified construction, and Fig.

4:, a plan view of this modification.

Like characters of reference designate like parts in the several figures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, A designates a railway rail and B one of the cross ties supporting the same.

The device of our invention shown in Figs. 1 and 2, consists of a plate 0, which is preferably widest along the outer edge of the rail base and tapers in width inwardly, provided with an integrally formed upright member D which is preferably strengthened by the reinforcing web E. The upright member D is formed with a vertical, flat surface a? parallel With the axis of the rail against which the outer edge of the base of the rail may abut at different altitudes.

with a substantially horizontal member F which, by bearing against the vertical web, of the rail, assists in preventing the spread or tilting of said rail. The inner edge of the L plate C is formed with a spike hole G and the outer edge with two spike holes H, the spikes, designated I in the drawings, over-' lapping the edges of the rail base in the usual manner. lreferably the projection J at the outer edge ofthe plate, which the upright member D and its supporting web E rise from, is formed at its outer extremity with a spike hole K. The rail, under normal conditions, rests directly upon the tie plate. If the rail has to be raised any suitable number of shims, L, may be interposed between the plate and the rail base. In either position the outer edge of the rail base bears against the surface It will be seen that in shimming up the rail the position of the tie plate on the tie is not disturbed nor is the' spike which passes through the spike hole K. The other spikes simply have to be withdrawn sufliciently to permit the rail to be raised the required amount.

In'Figs. 3 and i we have shown a twopart plate, the inner member of which is provided with a shoulder or abutment against which the inner edge of the rail bears when in its normal position, and which serves to keep the shims from displacement when the rail is shimmed up. M designates the outer plate and N the inner plate, said plates being formed on their meeting edges with projections m, a, each of which enters a correspondingly formed recess in the edge of the other plate. The plate M is formed with an upright member 0 provided, preferably, with a horizontal member P adapted to bear against the vertical web of the rail. The plate N is formed with a projection or shoulder Q, the inside face 9 of which is vertical and serves to retain in place the shims L when the rail is shimmed up. When the rail is in its normal position the edge of the base flange bears against this shoulder. The plate N is preferably formed at its extremity with aspike hole R in addition to spike holes S along the edge of the rail base. The plate M is preferably formed with spike holes, designated T, similar in their arrangement to thespi'lre holes of the other form of device.

WVe claim:

1. A track device of' the character described, comprising a plate adapted to extend under the base of a rail and be secured to one of the supporting ties thereof, provided with an upright member having a vertical surface parallel with the edge of the base of the rail, against which surface said edge is adapted to hear when resting on said plate and also when shimm-ed up therefrom,

and a substantially horizontal member projecting from said upright nieml'aer which bears against the vertical web of the rail.

2. A track device .of the character described, comprising co engaging plates adapted to extend under the base of a rail and to be secured to one of the supporting ties thereof, one of said plates being formed with an upright member having a vertical surface against which one edge of the base 1 of the rail is adapted to bear, and formed with a substantially horizontal member which bears against the vertical web of the rail, the other plate provided with an abutment, having a vertical face line with the opposite edge of the base of said rail.

3. A track device of the character de scribed, comprising 00- engaging plates adapted to extend under the base of a rail and to be secured to one of the supporting ties thereof, each plate having a projection adapted to enter a sii'nilarly formed recess in the meeting edge of the other plate, one of said plates being formed with an upright member having a vertical surface against which one edge of the base of the rail is adapted to hear at .diflerent altitudes, and

the other provided with an abutment, having a vertical face in line with the opposite edge of the base of said rail.

ED WARD LAAS. HIRAM SPONENBURG. Witnesses:

L. A. FALKENBERG, J. B. LAGORIE.

ggp ies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of latents.

' Washington, D. 0; 

